Now, it is on to the National Archery Tournament in Louisville, Ky. May 13-14. They will be looking to three-peat as national champions as well.
“We had another solid meet performance,” said AMS archery coach Jeremy Cox. “We are still ironing out a few items like everyone else, but it’s awesome to have a team that consistently posts scores that are tops in the nation. The state meet was the type of meet that we needed to get us in a large environment, with lots of people, and lots of noise. There are a lot of coachable moments during a big meet, and I felt each of our kids learned from this experience. I have a few new kids on the team this year, so this meet definitely helped them to get past some of those large arena jitters. Our veterans from last year have really turned out to be great leaders and mentors. They go so far as to giving each other advice and encouragement on and off the range.”
3-D State Tournament
In the elementary girls division, Lauren Staples won first place while second place went to Hannah Howard.
In the middle school girls division, Amanda Alexander won first place while Alexis Baskin won second place.
In the middle school boys division, Zac Smith won first place while second place went to Dakota Brock.
NASP Alabama State Tournament
In the elementary girls division, Paige Layfield finished in second place with a score of 282 (all scores out of 300).
In the elementary boys division, Chase Roberts finished first with a score of 288.
In the middle school girls division, Tabitha Tucker took first place honors with a score of 283 while second place went to Amanda Alexander, who finished with a score of 282.
In the middle school boys division, second place went to Caleb Wise with a score of 289.
Cox said they had numerous fourth, fifth, and sixth place finishers.
“As we look ahead to nationals, we have a lot of work to do,” Cox said. “Looking at scores around the nation, it will be quite exciting. The top five teams may only be decided by 10 points or less. I do feel we are up to the challenge and our kids know what they have to do to be successful in Louisville on May 14.”
Cox said it’s always an honor to represent Ashville, St. Clair County, and the State of Alabama in a national tournament.
“We have been blessed the last few years with multiple state championships, and a pair of national championships,” Cox said. “Our team has a lot of character and class, so we will be well represented. As always, whether we win or lose, we will glorify and honor our Lord Jesus Christ with the talents He has given us and use those talents as a witnessing tool. As always we will be shooting in the Kentucky Expo Center with around 7,000 other archers and the top 65 or so middle schools in the nation.”
Ashville High School
The Ashville High archery team finished runner-up in the state tournament to Alma Bryant by only two points. But for the third year in a row, Ashville sophomore Stephanie Whisenant won an individual state title.
She shot a 288 out of a possible 300.
Although she won the state title, Whisenant said she was disappointed in herself.
“I’m disappointed because I did not shoot as high as I anticipated,” Whisenant said. I feel like I let the team down because we lost a state title by only two points.”
Whisenant said since her ninth-grade year, she has always shot between a 292 and 296, so the 288 was disappointing.
“I am proud of myself that I’ve kept this title awhile,” she said.
Moody
In their very first year, the Moody archers qualified for nationals with a score of 2939. Moody coach Tommy Smitherman said this score put them finishing in the middle of the pack.
“This is our first year doing this and our kids did great,” Smitherman said. “Our top boy archer was John Martin with a score of 265 and our top girl archer was Felicia Pate with a score of 255. We beat several teams in our middle school division as well as posting higher scores than several high school teams.”
The top three girl archers for Moody were Felicia Pate, Ashton Clem and Madison Vincent. The top three boy archers were John Martin, Austin King and Chris Slay.
There were 28 students on the team, of which 24 got to participate in the state meet. The other four shot at three-dimensional targets.
Pell City
The Pell City archery team qualified for the national archery competition as well with a team score or 3108.
Sammy Maddox was the top boys scorer for Pell City with a score of 280 points. Stephanie Hall was the top scorer for the girls with a score of 256.
“I am very proud of the team and the great effort that was displayed,” said Pell City coach James Bryant. “We have 18 students who will travel to Kentucky to compete at nationals.”
Contact Gary Hanner at ghanner@thestclairtimes.com.
